Lonely Hunter
by mmusicofmysoul
Summary: 5B canon divergence, one-shot: Graham in the Underworld.
Her vision was blurred. She would never imagined, she would never… But yes, he was. He was there. She was there. And both of them were hugging the hell – oh, look at her making mental puns in such a moment – out of each other.

"Wha – why –?" he rambled while caressing her cheeks – like their last time. She didn't remembered him with those sad eyes, perhaps his last days being the excepti – _no, no, don't go there, Emma, for heaven's sake_ – but still, he seemed so… wrecked to see her. "Why are you here, Emma? Why? What happened to you?"

Wha –? Oh, no, of course he'd thought that.

"I'm not dead. I'm here – on a mission," she reassured him.

He smelled like forest. They were in one, after all. That could've been his own personal paradise – but it wasn't, otherwise he wouldn't be there, with her, still holding onto her.

"A mission?"

"To save someone who is – very important to me."

That seemed to confuse him.

She knew, she could understand. He was going to tell her the same things Neal did.

Impossible, dangerous, that she should go back where she came from before it was too late.

He didn't. He surely thought it, but didn't say a word. Instead, he just hugged her.

/

"Stubborn as always, I see… I'm just happy to see you – alive, I guess."

/

The Underworld's version of Granny's fell shut at the sight of both of them. Well, she was exaggerating, but she felt her family's surprised eyes like lasers. Suddenly, the marks on the floor resulted very compelling.

Emma didn't feel like looking Regina at the eyes, either – and could tell the feeling was shared because she let go hasty words and remember she had to look after Zelena not messing around – or something like that – before storming out the place.

Graham stood still. She couldn't decipher his expression.

Faster than snapping, Mary Margaret – _Snow_ – her mother was there with her arms around him, which he replied happily. "Is so good to see you – as you, again," he said. Emma smiled at the memory of her using those same words in a different occasion. Her father was at her side, with a questioning but pleased look.

"I'm so sorry, Graham. I know this was my fau…" she started. Her voice was unsteady and her hands shivered on his coat.

"Don't. Please, don't. You know it was my decision… And someone else's fault."

That left Snow gasping. What a nice chat to have on a public place. What a nice place, period.

Killian was at her side at the moment he heard the name. He stroke her hand softly, gave her that look he always did when she needed his support.

She nodded and smiled at him while her dad patted Graham's back. _Thank you_.

And she knew she shouldn't be feeling… out of place? beside her parents who seemed to know that man – that man she was so moved to meet again – much better than her. She couldn't understand all he had to go through – her parents, did. But he kept looking at her with that little smile of him – reassuring, always reassuring – damn him.

They all were about to took back seats on the table they were before Emma came into with Graham, when she heard the doors' bells.

Henry standing at the entrance, with his gaze frozen at him – at the Sheriff, at his referent, his buddy – was like someone was squeezing her heart. Everything was unfair.

Graham's face lit up after a second of realization. "Hey there, kid. Wow, look at you all grown up."

"Mom said something… I didn't know if…" but he interrupted himself, probably deciding it didn't matter. He was already on his arms.

/

At first, the conversation turned into a messy wondering of what could possibly be his unfinished business. Of course the reunion was pleasant, but they couldn't let his soul freely around the woods forever.

Emma had helped him to remember. Before dying, he'd been happy – she'd been happy – at least, that little moment of knowing.

She stroke Killian's hand while thinking, relying on him. Being there with both of them _dead_ was just too much for her to stay firm. It was crap, all of this was crap and unfair and she didn't know what to do to help one, to save another.

(Even that didn't sound fair.)

/

Everybody decided to stay away while Graham and Regina had their little – _chit chat_.

Yeah, the understatement of the year – and that was saying a lot.

Emma sent a menacing glare to Henry – her best one – when catch him with his quill about to write. "Don't you dare."

Though, he feigned innocence. As if he could fool her. _Good try, kid._

 _/_

Tears rolled down her mother's face.

And down hers too.

Since when her little son was tougher than an adult, firm there to hold all them in one piece? Her hand was cold, but Henry kept it between his. Killian and her father watched over them beside. It was worth it.

Maybe Graham couldn't have his heart back, not in death; but he could feel something. She had helped him in life; they all helped him in hell. Even confronting what had really happened to him – it must have been cathartic, she guessed.

The last time she hadn't been able to say goodbye, they hadn't had that option. It had been messy and heartbreaking, and abrupt and confusing. It had been a fucking chaos on her chest – which was ironic considering his situation.

At least they had that farewell now. He deserved better, she thought; but his destination was a happy place. Happier than the Underworld; happier than his life on Storybrooke, for sure. There he would feel. He was already feeling.

"I'll be forever grateful for all you have done for my family," Snow managed to say. "You were – are an amazing man, Graham, an amazing friend."

"You'll make the dead blush," he smirked. "And I already told you, it was my pleasure, Snow White. Look at the amazing family you've formed, look at all the people you've brought together. I would say a small loss was worth it."

"Shut up," Emma groaned. Her intention hadn't been to sound angry, but playful – or all the playful you could in a situation like that.

He still didn't hold a grudge – he was laughing.

"You're an especial woman, Emma Swan. Savior… It seems like you do justice to your title, since you're always – always – saving me from myself. You've changed a lot of lives, Emma, and you're down here with your whole gang to keep doing it, mission apart."

"Now you're the one to make me blush, idiot." Why the hell did she have to sound so shattered?

"I wouldn't dare. _Thank you_." The echo of the same words time ago still made her shiver. He turned his body to Henry, to shake his hair. "I'm sorry for not having listened when you warned us. You had become in a great man, buddy, and a hero to be proud of. Always keep believing."

Watching him walk towards the light was a sight and she had mixed feelings about it.

A pair of arms with a hook for a hand were around her waist, and she let it go.

So maybe, and finally, that would be another nightmare gone from her, and a new happy ending for him to find.

She swore to have heard a wolf's howl coming from the distance, to also said goodbye to a friend.


End file.
